José Sobral de Almada-Negreiros was a pivotal modernist artist in Portugal who worked in many mediums including painting, writing, dance, tapestry, and more. He was inspired by Cubism and Futurism and helped form an influential group called "Orpheu's Generation" that aimed to modernize Portuguese art and society in the early 20th century. Almada-Negreiros lived in Paris in 1918-1920 where he established connections with major modern artists and worked as a dancer and factory worker. Throughout his career he created works in various mediums
2. José Sobral de Almada-Negreiros was a Portuguese painter and
writer, born in the then colony of São Tomé e Príncipe. Besides
literature
and
painting,
Almada
composed
ballet
choreographies, and worked on tapestry, engraving, murals,
caricature, mosaic, azulejo and stained glass. Having drawn
inspiration from Cubism and Futurist movements, AlmadaNegreiros is considered one of the pivotal figures of the Modernist
movement in Portugal.
Following the lead of other European vanguard movements of
the early 20th century, Almada-Negreiros, along with writers
Fernando Pessoa, Mário de Sá-Carneiro and painters such as
Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso and Santa Rita Pintor, formed a
group named "Orpheu’s generation". Intent on agitating,
subverting and scandalizing the Portuguese conservative
bourgeoisie and, by extension, all social conventions, the group
launched a magazine – "Orpheu" – a journal of art and
literature. Essentially, their aim was to produce a shift in the
society’s mind frame, urging people to look to the future and to
believe in their Man’s capacities.
Between the years of 1918-20 Almada-Negreiros lived in Paris, working as a dancer
and as a factory worker to earn a living. Although he led a relatively isolated life,
he established acquaintance with some of the most prominent artists of 20th
century modern art
38. The Portalegre
Tapestries,
which claim
the status of a
work of art,
are the result
of a division
between the
painter and
the craftsmen
who recreates
the narrative
of the first
artist.
51. 'A sentença de Salomão', tapeçaria de Almada Negreiros (1962)
Azulejos de
Almada
Negreiros
52.
53. Tapestry
called
"Lenda do Lethes”
According
to
the
legend,
when
the
Romans reached Rio
Lima on their march
through Iberia they
had a great deal of
trouble
leaving
because the soldiers
were convinced the
Rio Lima was the
River Lethes - the
mythical
river
of
oblivion - and that if
they crossed it they
would
forget
everything. It was
only
after
their
leader,
Decimus
Junius
Brutus,
plunged ahead and
shouted back their
legionaries'
names
that they braved the
waters
64. Text and pictures: Internet
Copyright: All the images belong to their authors
Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanu
www.slideshare.net/michaelasanda
Sound:
Miguel Poveda, Mariza y la ONE - Meu fado meu
Notes de l'éditeur
this great "wall", "Almada brings together the four areas supportive of their composition: a) a graphic scheme of 'list 9/10" with the pentagram inscribed in circumference and a set of rectangles in the' golden number b) 'Figure superfluous Exerrore »Leonardo da Vinci, the circumference divided by sixteen-pointed star, or half of it due to the cutting force that the wall composition, c) the boards of Pythagoras, the same center exact time and emblematic of the whole composition recorded d) the development of a complex network of paths that culminates in the determination of the 'point of Bahutte' point 'placed on the circle and found the square and the triangle', which had been subject one of the paintings of the series exposed in 1957
